


Meant to Be

by KittyKax



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Family Fluff, Happy Ending, Married Life, Memories, Reminiscing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 09:49:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15361815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittyKax/pseuds/KittyKax
Summary: It was a perfect day; the sun was up, the water was smooth, and as Elena smiled from the sailboat watching her daughter tread the deep waters with Vicky the dog, she wondered how she managed to get so lucky.





	Meant to Be

It was a perfect day; the sun was up, the water was smooth, and as Elena smiled from the sailboat watching her daughter tread the deep waters with Vicky the dog, she wondered how she managed to get so lucky.

Following her childhood dream, life after college and subsequent stint on her own TV show left little time for finding that special someone. Sure the idea of settling down, getting married, having children, paying a mortgage, and maybe owning a dog or two crossed her mind many times throughout her twenties, and she often wondered if maybe she should set her career aside and make that more of a priority. But she knew deep down it just wasn’t going to happen for her. Running around the world and raising a family were both mutually exclusive things, right?

And then she met Nathan Drake.

Although he was rough around the edges and clearly had some commitment issues, he seemed like an ideal match for her. Unlike most guys his age he had no business living the boring life of suburbia. Sure, most of their dates consisted of dodging bullets or slumming it in a cheap motel in between his latest jobs, but for the most part it worked for them. They always had a good time together, he was easy to talk to, the sex was incredible, and he often said it was nice being able to wake up next to someone who didn’t smell like cigars.

Their “kind-of-sort-of dating” thing went on for a little over a year, with weeks of travel and separation for work reinforcing just how casual it was. But then one day as she bid him another goodbye Elena came to the unfortunate realization that she was falling in love with him.

Suddenly there was a pain in her chest whenever he had to leave; she’d find herself staying up all night worrying whether he was going to be alive to call her in the morning. And on the nights where she was in her apartment with Chinese takeout and watching bad reality TV…all she wanted was for him to be there with her. She could now empathize with her co-workers when they lamented over their significant others being away for work, or their gushing on how the most fun they’ve ever had on a Friday night was sitting at home doing laundry and watching a movie in their pajamas with their husbands.

Of course, this didn’t change the seriousness of their “thing”—Nate was gun shy about even defining it in such concrete terms, and moving into more committed territory had been met with significant resistance.

So she ended it, and dove right back into her work with more determination than ever. Her “relationship” with Mr. Drake only made it clear that investigative journalism and the American dream did not mix. She had worked way too hard to throw it all away on some ridiculous social construct, and it was then that she was finally able to completely void herself of ever having the simple life of white picket fences and permanent addresses.

And now nearly twenty years later she tilted her head back, letting the sun’s rays hit her face, and laughed to herself at how naive she actually was. With the creation of D&F Fortunes she was now an award winning journalist/TV personality who had the joy of traveling all over the world enticing viewers throughout the week chasing new mysteries and being able to spend long days on the water like this with her beautiful daughter and wonderful husband.

As she tipped her head back down, she could see said wonderful husband sitting at the bow of their small sailboat, also looking out at Cassie and Vicky playing in the water. She walked over and sat next to him, though he didn’t even seem to notice. He had a far off look in his eyes, an untouched beer now warm in his hand.

“Earth to Nate?” she asked with a small nudge bringing him back to her.

“Oh, hey,” he answered softly.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” A complete lie, and Elena had been married to him long enough to know it.

“Come on, what’s on your mind?”

He sighed and looked back out to Cassie, “…You think it was a good idea to tell her?”

“We knew she was going to bust her way in eventually; she is your daughter after all.”

He snorted. “Yeah…I just wish I could’ve protected her from it just a little longer.”

She raised her brow. “Protected her from it?”

He leaned forward and turned his head down, “From—from all of it,” he said, waving his beer in front of him. “The danger and the psychos—” He paused, frowning. “I was her age when Sully taught me how to shoot a gun, and less than a year later I spent my first night in prison. I didn't want to tell her because I didn't want her to know that part of my life.” Nate looked up to face her with a look of fear spread across his face, “All the things I've done...How am I supposed to teach her right from wrong now? I’m supposed to be the person she looks up to-”

“-And you still are.” She grabbed his bicep and pulled him closer to her, “You saw how excited she was when you told her the stories; she didn’t want you to stop.”

“Well maybe I should have.” he said. “Everything’s changed now.”

“But that was all in the past. You're a different man than that reckless cowboy I met in Panama. And you know Cassie will always love you no matter what; this doesn’t change that.” She squeezed his arm and laid her own head over his shoulder. “I'll always love you.”

They stay in silence for a few moments unchanged before Nate spoke up again.

“You ever think about what our lives would be like if we had made different choices?”

“You mean like if I had done the sensible thing and hung up the phone the second you told me you could find Frances Drake's coffin?”

He let out a small chuckle. “Yeah, something like that.”

“Sometimes…” Elena said softly, “But then I remember all the good that came out it. It might have meant a life without us and Cassie…. Nah, I like the hand we’ve been dealt.”

“We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?”

“We really have,” She looked up at him, “Was it worth it?”

He turned his head and lifted his free hand to gently cup her face, “Without a doubt.”

But before their lips could touch the loving duo were interrupted when they felt the boat rock. They turned and saw their teenage daughter dripping with seawater and helping their old dog back onto the deck, who was shaking her fur as she got her footing.

“What?” Cassie asked when she noticed her parents staring at her.

“Nothing.”  
“Nothing.” They said in unison.

Cassie rolled her eyes and grabbed the sun bleached water polo ball from a compartment in the side of the boat.

“Hey Dad, up for a game?” she asked, turning the ball between her hands.

Nate unhooked himself from his wife and stretched his arms. “Not today kiddo, this feels like a kick back and relax kind of day.”

“Aw what’s the matter, old man? Afraid you can’t keep up?”

That got his attention. “Okay first of all, don’t call me ‘old man,’ and second, I’m not scared to play you because, like always, I’d win anyway.”

“Well then bring it on, chicken,” she beckoned him, making small clucking sounds as she backed towards the water.

“Oh you asked for it.” Nate got up and Cassie let out a loud shriek as he hoisted her over his shoulder and tossed her over the edge, with him following as soon as he took off his shoes and shrugged off his shirt. Vicky was barking wildly and Elena wasn’t even trying to suppress her own laughter.

There was a lot she wished she could’ve done differently in her life. She wished she could’ve been able to start this life sooner with Nate; to be able to make more of these memories, have more of these kinds of days.

But the waiting had made this all the that much better; loss and loneliness only made her more grateful for what they had.

Yeah, this is how it was always meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this such a long time ago...yet I only recently remembered I never put it on here! I do love writing Cassie...I have to do it more. Thanks for reading!


End file.
